set' designs for lego indiana jones figures

Once the play set/play mat for LegoIndiana Jones figures has been made and painted, you'll need to create mini 'set' designs inspired by the best-known scenes from the different films.

Mountainside play set/play mat design

There are two different scenes on this part of the play set/play mat: - the motorcycle-sidecar chase scene from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" that finishes with a shot of a road sign: It's this little scene that we're going to make - together with a rope bridge that links the cliffs to the rocks, as seen in the second film in the series.

Making the wooden road signs

This is an easy little job. You just need a few small bits of wood and some wood adhesive, so it's perfect for younger arts and crafts fans. The design will really bring this scene to life and remind us of which road Indiana Jones took in the end (the Berlin road).

Making the rope bridge out of matches

The rope bridge is made from long safety matches and thin brass wire. Cut 2 lengths of brass wire about 32 inches long each.

Leave about 8 inches of wire clear (for fastening to the bridge's anchors) before wrapping each wire round the end of the first match. Leave a small space, a fraction of an inch, before wrapping the wire round another match. Keep on like this until you have the length of bridge you want. One or two matches can be broken to add a touch or realism! The 4 ends of the wire lengths are wrapped round 4 pieces of dead wood, which are then thrust into the surface of the play set/play mat.

Amazonian Rainforest play set/play mat design

This part of the play set/play mat whisks us into the world of the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: you'll be able to play out different scenes from the film (the tent, quicksand and river scenes...). You also have additional features like the temple entrance, totem style, and graveyard traps.... I can hear my teeth chattering already....

How to make the temple/cave entrance The entrance is marked by a totem-style arch, made from fimo clay. Take a little ball of marbled effect Fimo clay and push it onto a wooden toothpick. Follow that with an irregularly-shaped chunk of clay, for a stone-like effect. Alternate the marbled clay and the chunks of clay (leave about a third of an inch of the toothpick free). The 2 toothpicks are topped with balls of clay formed into scary gargoyle type shapes. The third toothpick is stuck into the other two toothpicks so as to form a kind of square arch. To bake the fimo clay, you'll need about twenty minutes in an oven at 266°F. Fimo clay may be worked by children aged 8 and up. Wash your hands well once you've finished working with the clay. When the clay has cooled, the arch may be set up in front of the cave.

Trap with skeleton With a teaspoon, make a hole in the foam surface of the play set, paint it, and place a LEGO skeleton into the hole. Matches pushed into the ground create a sort of cage. The cage is hidden amongst the bushes... In another area, a covered pit, without a skeleton this time round, threatens the unwary explorer....